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TV takes another turn with a Netflix series

Posted:
02/01/2013 10:46:13 AM EST

Updated:
02/01/2013 10:54:46 AM EST

Is television as we know it dead? Or has it already turned into something we never anticipated?

With more people adding Netflix's streaming service to their menu of viewing options (or making it their only option), the site has begun to offer exclusive television series, much like HBO and Showtime. Beginning today, Netflix subscribers can watch the entire 13-episode political drama "House of Cards," starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.

Spacey stars in this dark Washington melodrama as Francis Underwood, the House majority whip, a rising star who is denied a promised promotion to secretary of state by the president he just helped elect. From that moment on, he schemes to destroy the commander in chief.

"House of Cards" is based on a BBC miniseries of the same name. The pilot and second episode were directed by David Fincher ("The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"), who is also executive producer, and written by Beau Willimon ("Ides of March"), who

saddles Spacey with spectacularly unnatural dialogue.

In drama, there are many fine lines between serious and dull, between exalted and pretentious, and between somber and dreary. "House of Cards" crosses every line.

The series opens with Spacey's Underwood performing a mercy killing on a dog that had just been struck by a hit-and-run driver. He does this while offering a glum soliloquy on the difference between necessary pain and needless suffering. It goes downhill from there.

Spacey, meanwhile, is a scheduled guest on "Late Show With David Letter man" (11:35 p.m., CBS). Also set to talk are Nick Griffin and Emeli Sande.

---Cultures clash and family bonds are stretched to the breaking point in the new series "Belle's" (10 p.m., TV One). Bill (Keith David), the widowed owner of a soul food restaurant, bickers frequently with two very different daughters. Practical Jill (Elise Neal) juggles her job as the restaurant's manager with her life as a single mom. Her princess sister, Loreta (Tami Roman), daydreams about stardom in the music business and finding a rich husband.

"Belle's," produced by Ed. Weinberger ("Taxi," "The Cosby Show"), is a throwback of sorts, mixing controversial social issues, one-liners and touching family dynamics.